Taika Capital LP Sells 2,725 Shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)

Taika Capital LP lowered its stake in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 63.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,725 shares during the period. Taika Capital LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 62.0% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 24,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 500.0% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 5,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, YCG LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 5.9% in the third quarter. YCG LLC now owns 128,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,365,000 after acquiring an additional 7,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $235.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 27,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,036 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,076 shares of company stock valued at $4,271,496 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $254.57 on Monday. CME Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $258.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $91.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.53.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a net margin of 57.52% and a return on equity of 13.62%. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.71%.

CME Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.